All eyes are now on Mar del Plata as current Olympic Champions Russia take on Brazil in the opening match of the World League Finals on Wednesday

Lausanne, Switzerland, July 15, 2013 - In a repeat of the 2012 Olympic
final, record World League winners Brazil will take on Olympic champions Russia
in Mar del Plata on Wednesday.

The opening match will kick-off a spectacular few days of volleyball
action in the Estadio Islas Malvinas, with its seating capacity of 8,000 spectators,
at the end of which a successor to last year’s winners, Poland, will be crowned.
The defending champions failed to qualify for the final round, as did the
second and third-placed teams from last year, USA and Cuba.

Six teams are out to win the jackpot, and the Brazilians arrive in
Argentina with the greatest experience under their belt. “We obviously have our
sights set on winning the title. My team is hungry for success,” says Bernardo
Rezende, coach of the South American ball wizards.

One year after finishing sixth – their worst ever result – the team is
looking forward to possibly claiming their tenth World League triumph. Alongside
Russia, Brazil’s opponents in Group E will be Canada. Despite being the
newcomer, Canada have proven their mettle and earned the respect of their opponents.

“We have a tough pool in the Finals,” says Rezende. “Canada has a great
opposite spiker. Their style is similar to the American one. Russia always has
a strong team. They have experienced setters. Their system is the same: a powerful
serve and a solid block.” Russia won the World League in 2002 and 2011. Captained by
the match winner from the Olympic final, Dmitriy Muserskiy, the team is now
aiming for its first title under new coach Andrey Voronkov.

The other pool in the final
round is Group D comprising hosts Argentina with Bulgaria and Italy. Argentina and
Bulgaria will open this pool’s matches on Wednesday.

The top two teams from each
group will go through to the semi-finals with the final scheduled to take place
on Sunday.

Although Argentina won just
one match in the intercontinental round it has a valuable home advantage. They go
into the tournament with their sights set on claiming their first a podium finish
in the history of the World League. The Argentineans best result so far is the
fourth place they achieved in 2011.

Bulgaria, who are also yet to finish in the top
three are hoping to continue with their impressive form from the intercontinental
round. This year’s team appears stronger than ever, and was largely responsible
for the exits of defending champions Poland and last year’s finalists USA in
the preliminary round.

New coach Camillo Placi recounted a special souvenir
from last year’s edition of the World League. “I am sorry that Poland and coach Andrea Anastasi
didn’t qualify for the finals, but I was here when he won last year in Sofia.
It was then when he surprised me with a present and gave me the clipboard he
used in the final match. I still keep it and it's a good memory. But now we
want to write a new shiny page in Bulgarian volleyball history,” he said.

Italy, meanwhile, have slipped seamlessly into the role of the dark horse. The
Azzurris won their preliminary group, finishing above Olympic champions Russia.

They have won the World League eight times in the past, although their last
time was twelve years ago. The team was given an official reception by Prime
Minister Enrico Letta in the Palazzo Chigi before departing for Argentina. Coach
Mauro Berruto said, “We are
happy to represent our country and we will do everything to continue to honour
the blue shirt we wear and keep flying our flag. Let's go to Argentina
thinking about the future, but with the desire to make our present
unforgettable.”

We can certainly expect an unforgettable finale to the pinnacle of
international volleyball again this year.